First time with Griots orbital

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cdoo932

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I just got a Griots 6 inch polisher for Xmas. I really want to get going with it but living up here in upstate NY makes it hard to wash and claybar during winter.I have a 06 Victory Red Corvette garage queen that was clayed,polished, sealed with BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection and topped with BLACKFIRE Midnight Sun Ivory Carnauba Paste Wax all by hand (before I got my orbital) back in June or so. Car wasnt driven much and was quick deatailed or washed and re-sealed a couple times between now and then. I ordered some Blackfire compound and finish polish along with some lake country pads(orange,white and black) from Autogeek to try and get some minor swirling and light scratches out. Question is can I start compounding and finish polishing without stripping what I have on the paint already? To cold to wash and clay. I dont think it needs clay anyways. Paint is smooth. What do ya think?
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Welcome to AGO first of all! You have a beautiful Corvette there as well. Corvettes have super hard clear coats, meaning it takes longer for to remove swirls and scratches. But with the scratch resistant Blackfire products it will make it easier. Right when you begin compounding or polishing the previous sealant and wax wil be removed. Anything with abrasives in it will remove sealants and waxes. Even though the paint feels smooth, clay before using the machine!! If some contaminants happen to get trapped between the pad and paint, it will do more damage to the paint. So clay no matter what. Seeing how new your car is, start out with the white pad and Blackfire finishing polish and if that doesn't get the result you want step up to an orange pad with the finishing polish. An I'd that doesn't work, use the Blackfire compound with the white. Hope this helped!:xyxthumbs:
 
I always like starting with a clean surface. To much time involved polishing to chance something going wrong
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Your going to love your Griots!!!
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Thanks guys for the quick replies. I kinda knew the answer already. I was gonna try to just start using the orbital on it but I dont want to take a chance on messing it up. The paint is very good as it is with just some minor swirls amd light scratches. Every time I take it for a drive I either quick detail it or if it gets too dusty I would wash it and then seal it with Blackfire. Its been in the garage since early November. How about claying then polishing without a wash? Too cold and the car is winterized so It wont be coming out for a wash till spring. By the way I am from RichfieldSprings. Its one town over from Cooperstown(baseball hall of fame).
Thanks,
Steve
 
Cooperstown and Base Ball Hall Of Fame. I am about 2.5 Hrs from there and I still haven't visited it. I will this summer for sure. I was up that way for a wedding in Herkimer last summer. The drive up there from the Mid-Hudson Valley was beautiful.

Hey Rider9195 I see you are from Gardiner NY. I grew up on Wallkill NY many, many moons ago!

Oh -- and that Vette is really nice!
 
cdoo932 said:
Thanks guys for the quick replies. I kinda knew the answer already. I was gonna try to just start using the orbital on it but I dont want to take a chance on messing it up. The paint is very good as it is with just some minor swirls amd light scratches. Every time I take it for a drive I either quick detail it or if it gets too dusty I would wash it and then seal it with Blackfire. Its been in the garage since early November. How about claying then polishing without a wash? Too cold and the car is winterized so It wont be coming out for a wash till spring. By the way I am from RichfieldSprings. Its one town over from Cooperstown(baseball hall of fame).
Thanks,
Steve
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I would just wait until warmer weather comes around to properly wash, clay, polish and seal it. If you lived closer I would offer to come by and help. Some people consider were I live upstate, so I just had to ask.
 
you could probably do a waterless wash? or if the car is already clean, I don't see why you can't just go ahead and clay it.
 
if its not been driven since you last did work to it then just do a quick waterless wash to remove the surface dust, highly doubt you need to clay it again, you only need to clay 2-4x if its only been a month and maybe drove it a couple of times its fine to just go ahead, strip the protection and polish the 'vette up. i would get some sort of paint prep product before you polish. some car pro eraser, griots paint prep, or just use some alcohol + water in a spray bottle. theres a thread on AG showing how to use alcohol+water but do not have it handy. after surface is clean start polishing.
 
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